Manny's sac fly made it 5-1 after two innings. Toronto got a run in the fifth and back-to-back home runs from Stairs and Rios in the sixth -- Buffy and Pat Tabler got all excited that "we got us a ball game now!" -- but a few minutes later, Boston shut them up with two runs in their sixth after two were already out (Pedroia single, Tizzle RBI double, Manny RBI single).

After Wakefield (6-9-4-0-2, 95), MDC, Jeemer and Bot swept up. ... Down in Tampa, the MFY beat the Rays 7-4 to move into second place (10 GB), while the Jays slipped to third (11 GB).

After three hours of Buffyvision, it's time for another episode of "Things I Heard":

1. In spring training, Papelbon "finally came to his senses and realized that he could have a great career as a closer in Boston" and quit being a starter (according to Buffy).

2. When Youkilis missed games in Detroit, Boston got some help at first base from "Fred Bailey" (according to Tabler).

3. The Yankees have a great chance to catch the Red Sox because they play so many games against crappy ol' Baltimore and Tampa Bay in the second half (according to Tabler).

Games after ASG v Tampa Bay and BaltimoreYankees 14 13*Red Sox 15 13

*: includes completion of one suspended game

So it's actually Boston that will play more games (28 to 27) against Tampa Bay and Baltimore in the second half.

There's nothin' like checking your facts before you speak!

But, hey, what do I know? Tabler's a big shot TV guy and I'm typing this in my basement.

I noticed there were 6 games tonight. ESPN is showing Girls Amateur Softball. Why is there no national broadcasts seriously? Football is ALWAYS on TV. Basketball is ALWAYS on TV. GOLF is ALWAYS on TV. Softball is ALWAYS on ESPN. Did MLB really try to limit the their exposure this much? Ad if they wanted to push the EI program then why not offer it to all providers? MLB.tv is a joke for the only outlet for nationally broadcasted games.

Sorry I called them girls. But you have to see my point that ESPN shows a lot of games but lately its been all Softball and Lacrosse during Baseball games.

I was there for the discussions of the MLB EI thing and it just now really hit home with me as to the huge negative effect it has on fans. I want to get Dish Network and claim my home address is in Boston.

Tonight, where I am near Boston, on RCN cable, after Pedroia reached on the error, they cut to commercial and didn't come back until it was 1-2 on Ortiz. They just got back in time for us to see the double. I called my dad down in New Haven, CT, where I think he's got Comcast, and he said the same thing happened there. Did this happen to everyone watching on NESN? Man, people should be fired over that one....

Yep. Same thing happened here on NESN. I've seen it *almost* happen before.. they cut to a commercial by accident but quickly come back to the game. The mistake tonite was ridiculous. What was it.. like 4 or 5 full commercials?

I muted and tuned in MLB-audio at exactly 7.10 when Tabler said that Wakefield was hard to steal on because he is so quick to home plate. Buffy should threaten to hold his breath until they find him a decent partner.

"they cut to a commercial by accident but quickly come back to the game. The mistake tonite was ridiculous. What was it.. like 4 or 5 full commercials?"

It was at least three. Yeah, I was waiting for an immediate cut back. But after one full ad ended and the next began, I knew they'd just blown it. The weird thing was, even if Pedroia had been out, they still would've had to wait for the inning wrap up, the music, the graphics... but somebody saw that play, thought Dustin was out, and said CUT RIGHT NOW! Very odd.

About "Fred Bailey": Maybe he, like you, thought of Bob Bailey. And then confused him with Fred Chicken Stanley. And then put the Fred with the Bailey as if that was Jeff's actual name. On TV. With millions watching.

MLB-audio is behind MLB-EI by about 2 or 3 pitches, depending on the stream. I rationalize it by monitoring how the Sox radio crew actually describes the play I've just seen live. Castig, Geffner, O'Brien ain't bad, but last year Trupe was simply full of shit a lot. Way too much distortion of reality (and not just on his famous pop-fly near-miss homerun screams). BTW, Redsock for PREZ. I can picture his 'down with in-game promos' campaign now. Stick all the crap between innings where it belongs.

The membership to Red Sox Nation has equalled the subscription to MLB-audio since year 1 (and comes with it). Both are annual deals. So if you intend to listen to some games anyway (which despite having MLB-EI, I sometimes do), the membership thing is harmless. This year, there was supposed to be a bumper sticker, which still hasn't arrived. The card actually sticks to the fridge, which is ok for pinning the grocery list. I think you also get 10% discount on MLB gear, but that's another story. But the season is half over, so MLB usually starts discounting the media packages now. So maybe you can join, get audio, get the bumper sticker and a fridge magnet--all for 1/2 price!!1!!. Can the RemDawg beat that!!1! (And wasn't it the exiled Sean McDonough who coined 'RemDawg'?).